Cartagena, Colombia

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA | "La Heroica"

Cartagena is the most beautiful colonial city in the Americas — a 16th century Spanish fortified port on the Caribbean coast of Colombia where the Walled City, the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas fortress, the painted colonial houses of the Getsemaní neighborhood, and the Caribbean sea visible through every gap between the buildings create a physical environment of such color, warmth, and historical depth that it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. The city was founded in 1533 as the primary port of the Spanish Empire's Caribbean operations, the point through which the gold and silver of the New World flowed to Seville, and the extraordinary fortifications that surround the historic center were built in response to the pirate attacks of Francis Drake, Edward Vernon, and Baron de Pointis.

The colors are the specific tropical palette of the Caribbean colonial: the brilliant yellow, blue, terracotta, and white of the painted facades in the Walled City and Getsemaní, the deep teal of the Caribbean sea visible above the wall, the warm gold of the coral stone from which the fortifications and churches were constructed, and the deep violet of the Cartagena sunset over the bay when the old city walls turn the color of burnt amber.